The interpretation timeline

2Sam 3:28

How this passage has been read — the sources, oldest to newest.

From the early Church Fathers to now.

2Sam 3:28 · Douay-Rheims
“And when David heard of it, after the thing was now done, he said: I, and my kingdom are innocent before the Lord for ever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner:”
Patristic before A.D. 750
397
A.D.
Ambrose of Milan Patristic
A.D. 339–397
“Although he [Saul] was a king, he sinned if he killed the innocent. Finally, even David, when he was in possession of his kingdom and had heard that an innocent man named Abner was slain by Joab, the leader of his army, said, "I and my kingdom are innocent now and forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner," and he fasted in sorrow.These things I have written not to disconcert you but that the example of kings may stir you to remove this sin from your kingdom, for you will remove it by humbling your soul before God. You are a man, you have met temptation—conquer it. Sin is not removed except by tears and penance. No angel or archangel can remove it; it is God himself who alone can say, "I am with you"; if we have sinned, he does not forgive us unless we do penance.”
Source
Modern · 1953 →

The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.